Examples of hearing assistance devices, also referred to herein as hearing instruments, include both prescriptive devices and non-prescriptive devices. Examples of hearing assistance devices include, but are not limited to, hearing aids, headphones, assisted listening devices, and earbuds.
Hearing instruments can provide adjustable operational modes or characteristics that improve the performance of the hearing instrument for a specific person or in a specific environment. Some of the operational characteristics are volume control, tone control, and selective signal input. These and other operational characteristics can be programmed into a hearing aid. A programmable hearing aid can be programmed using wired or wireless communication technology.
Generally, hearing instruments are small and require extensive design to fit all the necessary electronic components into the hearing instrument or attached to the hearing instrument as is the case for an antenna for wireless communication with the hearing instrument. The complexity of the design depends on the size and type of hearing instrument. For completely-in-the-canal (CIC) hearing aids, the complexity can be more extensive than for in-the-ear (ITE) hearing aids, behind-the-ear (BTE) or on-the-ear (OTE) hearing aids due to the compact size required to fit completely in the ear canal of an individual.
Systems for wireless hearing instruments have been proposed, in which information is wirelessly communicated between hearing instruments or between a wireless accessory device and the hearing instrument. Due to the low power requirements of modern hearing instruments, the system has a minimum amount of power allocated to maintain reliable wireless communication links. Also the small size of modern hearing instruments requires unique solutions to the problem of housing an antenna for the wireless links. The better the antenna, the lower the power consumption of both the transmitter and receiver for a given link performance.
Both the CIC and ITE hearing instruments are custom fitted devices, as they are fitted and specially built for the wearer of the instrument. For example, a mold may be made of the user's ear or canal for use to build the custom instrument. In contrast, a standard instrument such as a BTE or OTE is designed to fit within the physiology of several wearers and is programmed for the person wearing the instrument to improve hearing for that person.